


That Sound

by RandyPandy



Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who & Related Fandoms, Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Episode: s01e13 The Parting of the Ways, Gen, Implied/Referenced Character Death
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-27
Updated: 2020-02-27
Packaged: 2021-02-28 07:01:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 652
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22919617
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RandyPandy/pseuds/RandyPandy
Summary: “You know the sound the TARDIS makes? That wheezing, groaning. That sound brings hope wherever it goes.”The scene in "The Parting of Ways" just before the Bad Wolf appears, with references to "The Day of the Doctor".
Comments: 2
Kudos: 23





	That Sound

**Author's Note:**

> Whoa, it's been so long since I wrote for Doctor Who that I don't have any other works for it on AO3.

“THEN PROVE YOURSELF, DOCTOR. WHAT ARE YOU? COWARD OR KILLER?”

“Coward,” the Doctor murmured as he hesitated. “Any day.”

Previously, the Doctor had always had a plan. No matter how haphazard, how crazy, he had always been able to think of something that would work. But today, he hadn't been able to think of any way out that would not result in even more death.

He had sent Rose away in the TARDIS, back to her home, to Jackie and Mickey and her friends. He’d promised that he would keep her safe. Even if he died here, she was at least safe and back home with them. She was young. She would mourn him, but then she would move on. The others…

All of the people on Satellite 5. The other contestants, some of which had hid and some of which had fought. The two programmers that had stood by him and helped him plan once he had revealed the truth. They were all gone now.

Lynda Moss. She had been so sweet and clever. She had been completely alone on the observation deck when she’d reported that the Daleks were breaking through. He'd heard glass shatter, her screaming, and then abrupt silence. She was gone.

Jack Harkness. He had been brilliant, funny, brave, and loyal. The man had been leading the defense forces, and just outside of Floor 500, he’d heard Jack’s voice yelling at him to hurry, and then a Dalek’s “EXTERMINATE!”, and then silence before the Dalek’s had burst in. Jack was gone too.

Both of them had been exterminated by the Daleks like everyone else. Two more companions that he had failed to keep safe. He’d finished what he had been planning. All he had to do was flip the switch, and everything around him would die.

“MANKIND WILL BE HARVESTED BECAUSE OF YOUR WEAKNESS.”

Yes. He was weak. But he was so, so tired, and very much the coward the Emperor had just outed him as. With the aftermath of the Time War still fresh on his mind, despite knowing the consequences of allowing the Daleks to live, he couldn’t bring himself to do this.

Not again. Never again.

_No more._

“And what about me? Am I becoming one of your ‘angels’?”

“YOU ARE THE HEATHEN. YOU WILL BE EXTERMINATED.” Cold, unfeeling. A typical Dalek response.

He really hadn’t expected anything different. “Maybe it’s time,” the Doctor finally said. Surrounded by Daleks, facing the Emperor, who all knew how regeneration worked, they would shoot him and then shoot him again while he was regenerating, which would kill him for good this time. There was no way out. Not anymore.

Perhaps this was for the best. He was lost. He no longer had any hope.

As he made peace with himself in the few seconds that he had left, his brain prickled, as if it was trying to remember something long forgotten. For some reason, he heard a whisper in his head that sounded oddly like Rose.

_“You know the sound the TARDIS makes? That wheezing, groaning. That sound brings hope wherever it goes.”_

“Yes,” he found himself murmuring to the imaginary Rose-like voice. “Yes, I like to think it does.”

_“To anyone who hears it, Doctor. Anyone, however lost. Even you.”_

He could almost even hear the TARDIS now. How fitting, as he prepared for death, to hear the wheezing of the blue box that had been his one true companion since he had left Gallifrey…

“ALERT! TARDIS MATERIALIZING!” one of the Daleks shouted, and the Doctor felt something foreign and light lurch in his hearts. His eyes flew open and he whirled around, staring at the materializing blue police phone box in disbelief.

_What?!_

"YOU WILL NOT ESCAPE!"

He heard Rose's voice one more time. _"Are you afraid of the big bad wolf, Doctor?"_

And then the TARDIS doors opened and there was nothing but eternity.


End file.
